I have a Lenovo Legion T5 with a Ryzen 7 3700, 16 GB of Kingston RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, and SSD storage. While playing Cyberpunk 2077, Task Manager shows roughly 1% GPU usage, 90% memory usage, and 40% CPU usage. I'm not very familiar with PC hardware, so I'd appreciate simple advice on what to check and which upgrade would make the biggest difference.
3 Answers
The 1% GPU reading is unusual for a demanding game. First, make sure your monitor cable is plugged into the RTX 3050 rather than the motherboard, and check the Nvidia app or Task Manager’s individual GPU graphs to confirm the game is using the dedicated graphics card. Updating or reinstalling the Nvidia driver may also help. If the GPU is genuinely idle, upgrading RAM won’t fix that issue.
Your 16 GB of RAM is probably the easiest upgrade. Cyberpunk and Windows can use most of it, which explains the 90% memory reading. Adding another matching 16 GB kit, or replacing the current memory with 32 GB total, can reduce stuttering and improve multitasking. It usually won’t dramatically increase average FPS if the RTX 3050 is already being used, though.
Once you confirm the 3050 is working normally, the graphics card would likely be the main gaming upgrade. The Ryzen 7 3700 is still capable, but the RTX 3050 is the weaker part for a game like Cyberpunk. Before choosing a newer card, check the Legion’s power supply wattage, available space, and required power connectors, since prebuilt systems can have upgrade limits.
Exactly—more RAM mainly helps when the system is running out of memory. It won’t turn the 3050 into a faster graphics card, so check GPU usage before buying anything.